I’ve seen my fair share of movies and books about fairy tales and fantasies, of all sorts. I’ve witnessed lots of fictional wish-making, and there is always a downward plot twist if the wish isn’t worded properly.

I’ve also been a New Ager (for lack of a better term) for decades, so I’ve had lots of experience with the confusing rules of affirmations, the Law of Attraction, and “positive thinking”.

For example: focus on what you want instead of what you don’t want (without using the word “want”); state your affirmations in the present tense, even if they feel false; if you don’t get what you asked for, you’re doing it wrong.

This can all be summed up by the following statement: karma is a bitch.

On a related note, we’re told to set a deadline or the Universe doesn’t know when we need it by. I have to wonder, though. Is the Universe that dense? Doesn’t it know, by the vibe of the scenario, when relief is needed? And, if I’m making a wish, doesn’t that imply the need is now?

The standard response is, “Trust in divine timing. You’ll get what you need, not what you want,” to which I reply, “Then what is the point of wishes?”

After spending so much time on making sure I have my wish perfectly polished before I ‘say my right words’, I find myself asking, “Am I over-analyzing?”

Am I beating this into the ground, or is all of this second guessing helpful because it forces me to focus on what I really want? Abraham says to hold a thought for 17 seconds and the Law of Attraction kicks in. Well, I have certainly done at least that.

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The Oracle did say “Think about what you ask for”. Perhaps this is what it meant. Perhaps it’s telling me to give it some deep, deep thought so I not only word the wish correctly, I also start its manifestation rolling.

Here’s my first wish of 10, after a great deal of thought about the wording, according to the rules that makes sense for quality wish-making (as I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m going to keep my wish secret for the time being, so I’ll be obscuring any spoilers):

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Wish #1 of 10

I wish for SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER, free and clear, no harm/no foul, to be delivered by the end of July 2017, in a joyful and generous way that harms none and helps all.

Another wishing-protocol question has come up, this time about keeping your wish a secret. We’ve all heard that you’re not supposed to tell anyone what you wish for — when blowing out birthday candles or wishing on a shooting star — because then it won’t come true. But, is this up for debate?

According to this site, when wishing on a star, you’re not supposed to tell anyone. On the other hand, this site doesn’t say a word about secrecy, so we can assume that they don’t believe keeping your wish to yourself is a big deal.

If it’s true that you’re not supposed to tell, then I’ve already blown it because I told that my first wish is for ten more wishes.

However, I never felt any intuitive nudges that my Faery Godmother minded either that I was talking about this, or that I told my first wish. And, believe me, I know from experience that if there’s something I’m not supposed to be doing — especially after I make a point of asking for guidance — I will be prevented from making that mistake, either because my computer will continually crash — keeping me from blogging — or I will be distracted in some other equally laborious way.

Now that it’s time to start wishing, in earnest, I’m feeling some trepidation about sharing what those wishes might be.

The problem I’m facing is that I’m not sure if it’s early-years birthday-cake training, or if my intuitive guidance is telling me to tick a lock.

There’s another angle to this, which has nothing to do with the rules of wish-making. Part of me is afraid to reveal what my first of the ten wishes is, just in case it doesn’t come true.

Maybe I was okay with sharing Wish #1 because there was no way to prove whether it was granted or not.

There, I said it. What if, after all this talk about being granted a wish by a Faery Godmother, and all the folderol over whether I’m allowed to ask for more wishes … what if my first provable wish doesn’t come true? I’m gonna look rather foolish, you know?

Because I’ve already more or less decided what Wish #2 will be, this card could be telling me to give it more thought before speaking it aloud to my Faery Godmother. Perhaps it could be tweaked a little further.

Or, it could be advising me to not tell what my wish is, to only “think” about it.

It could be both, or neither. However, both of the above feel true, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to keep the details of Wish #2 to myself, for now.

I’ll reveal my wish if … (that’s not very good Law of Attraction wording, is it?) … I’ll reveal it when it comes true.

You’ll just have to take my word for it that what I end up with is what I wished for. I’d rather keep everyone else in the dark and risk being annoying, than to risk not getting my wish because I felt unspoken peer pressure to spill my guts.

I’ll keep you posted. Meantime, here’s you a dog with a secret.

P.S. Before I posted this blog, live, I just happened to be directed to see this on Facebook. Tell me that’s not a sign!

Lisa Bonnice is an award-winning, best-selling author. Her current passion-project is a series of metaphysical comedy novels. The first in the series is Be Careful What You Witch For!, a modern-day fairy tale about Lola Garnett, a bored housewife and office drone who wakes up with unexpected psychic abilities, and no instruction manual, and Twink, the reluctant, sarcastic faery assigned to assist and educate her. Its sequel, Patterns in the Chaos, is in the works.

I exercised due diligence to see if there was an official rule against using a pre-granted wish for more wishes and found none. I’ve made my decision to go for it.

Here’s my reasoning, because I’m almost blown out of my chair by the force of so many readers hollering at their screens, “You’re not allowed to wish for more wishes!”

I know, I know. I think the same thought. I’ve seen the same movies and read the same books as you. It does seem as if there is a rule or, at least, a group-think understanding against it.

But is there an actual rule that says ‘No’?

Faeries, as I understand them, feel a hardy distaste for greed. I’m not big fan of it myself. So I wanted to be extremely careful and respectful in my demeanor toward this gift. If multiple wishes aren’t allowed, I ain’t gonna ask for ’em.

That’s why I bothered to do some research. One doesn’t receive a genuine offer to make a wish by a Faery Godmother without giving that wish serious thought.

I tried to find out if this rule has been officially put down in writing somewhere, aside from fiction and fairy tales. But where on Earth (or beyond) would that be?

Because I can’t pose ‘yes’ or ‘no’ queries to the Oracle who first granted this wish, I couldn’t just ask, “Is this allowed?” I had to find that answer another way.

So, I mentally asked the Faery Godmother to answer my question in another way: show me a sign. I even surfed the internet as an active participant in the search — I’m not just lazily asking to be proven wrong.

I saw nothing. I found nothing.

While waiting for my sign, I spent a few days trying to figure out what I would wish for, in case it turned out that I was only allowed the one.

I also spent that time becoming aware of how often, in everyday life, I would mindlessly begin sentences with the words “I wish …”.

I meant nothing by the phrase. It was just a dramatic way to begin a stream of words pouring through my noggin.

I had to catch myself numerous times. For example, while ridiculously blocked in a grocery store aisle, I caught myself about to mutter, “I wish these people would get out of my way!”.

If I wasn’t more careful, I realized, this could have been granted as my Big Wish, and I would have wasted it on something boring, petulant and completely inconsequential.

I couldn’t believe how often I thought things like that! It was almost constant, as if — because I didn’t normally believe that wishes can come true — there’s no harm in wishing for whatever I wanted, including the vaporizing of random Trader Joe’s shoppers, who were blocking my access to the goat cheese.

Catching myself yammering these childish complaints was like tap-dancing through a landmine, becoming — by necessity — ever more mindful to tiptoe carefully through my unconscious thoughts while I pondered what my one wish would be.

On one such occasion, I was pissing and moaning about not being able to find a parking spot in front of my house, and expressing angry words about what I’d like to see happen to neighbors who got there before me.

With my eyes opened, at long last, I stopped bitching and said, aloud, to the ever-listening Faery Godmother, “I didn’t mean that! That wasn’t my wish!”

Finally — since any careless complaining could be misunderstood as The Wish — I said to her, “When I make my actual wish, it will be out loud and deliberate, okay? Please don’t grant anything that is not in a complete sentence, and spoken aloud, to you.”

And now, because I had asked to be shown if there was a definitive rule against wishing for more wishes and was shown nothing, I’m taking that as my sign.

I feel like the window for wishing that wish is beginning to close. When I look at the picture of the Oracle telling me, “Make a wish”, the magical energy that I originally felt isn’t as strong. It’s beginning to fade, and I’m hearing her gentle instruction: “Say your right words.”

So, I’m going to go ahead and do it.

Wish #1:

I wish for ten more wishes, please.

Thank you.

And, of course, here’s you a dog, dressed as a genie.

Lisa Bonnice is an award-winning, best-selling author. Her current passion-project is a series of metaphysical comedy novels. The first in the series is Be Careful What You Witch For!, a modern-day fairy tale about Lola Garnett, a bored housewife and office drone who wakes up with unexpected psychic abilities, and no instruction manual, and Twink, the reluctant, sarcastic faery assigned to assist and educate her. Its sequel, Patterns in the Chaos, is in the works.

If you read my most recent blog, you know that I have been granted a wish by my Faery Godmother. You also know that my first order of business is to determine whether or not I am allowed to wish for more wishes.

It’s the first thing many of us would ask for, if given the chance, but is it allowed? A Facebook poll of my friends shows that many believe that it’s not. But has anyone ever seen an official rule-book that says we can’t, or is the fabled limit just poetic license to make fairy tales more interesting?

The answer to these questions determine my future, so I’m not using my wish just yet. I don’t want to squander a unique opportunity. While I search for a definitive answer, those questions invite more to come forth, like:

If I can wish for more, how many should I ask for? Unlimited wishes might be a bit much. Not only would it feel greedy, unlimited wishes might dilute the adventure of life on planet Earth.

Would 10 be enough? I think it would because — if carefully worded — the first three ought to be enough to set me up for life, especially at my age. I only have a few decades left (I don’t think I’d wish to be immortal, but that’s a topic for another blog). The extra seven could be used as gifts or in case of emergency.

If I am allowed 10 wishes, what would they be — especially those first three?

If I can’t wish for more, what will my one wish be?

Is it true that one should use a single wish for someone else, that the most blessed course of action is to give away something so priceless?

So, you see, there’s a lot to think about while I search for the answer to the primary question: am I allowed to wish for more wishes?

Meantime, here’s you a Fairy God Dog:

Lisa Bonnice is an award-winning, best-selling author. Her current passion-project is a series of metaphysical comedy novels. The first in the series is Be Careful What You Witch For!, a modern-day fairy tale about Lola Garnett, a bored housewife and office drone who wakes up with unexpected psychic abilities, and no instruction manual, and Twink, the reluctant, sarcastic faery assigned to assist and educate her. Its sequel, Patterns in the Chaos, is in the works.

At first I considered the old standard “I wish for all the money I’ll ever need”, but I decided to take this seriously, just for fun. I’ve seen the movie Bedazzled (a comedy about a man named Elliot Richards who sells his soul for seven wishes) and even wrote a comedy novel called Be Careful What You Witch For! about a woman who wishes for a more interesting life and gets it.

Mayhem can happen if you mess around with something like this. “Fools rush in,” they say.

Then I thought, “What if I wish for more wishes?”

A flood of stories filled my head about characters who have been granted a wish and were told that’s not allowed.

But is that true?

Is there really a rule somewhere that says you can’t wish for more wishes? If so, says who? And, are they the boss of me?

I’ve been granted a wish and I want to spend it wisely. I don’t want to end up like Elliot Richards who asks to be the most sensitive man in the world and gets what he wishes for!

Given the opportunity, what would you wish for?

By the way, here’s you some disruptive dogs!

Lisa Bonnice is an award-winning, best-selling author. Her current passion-project is a series of metaphysical comedy novels. The first in the series is Be Careful What You Witch For!, a modern-day fairy tale about Lola Garnett, a bored housewife and office drone who wakes up with unexpected psychic abilities, and no instruction manual, and Twink, the reluctant, sarcastic faery assigned to assist and educate her. Its sequel, Patterns in the Chaos, is in the works.

I recently wrote a blog about one on my books being pirated for use as a torrent. My issue wasn’t that my work was being stolen, it was that I had taken that book off the market because I was rewriting it. Well, I’ve republished it. It’s available again (both in paperback and ebook), because I’ve changed my mind.

Fans of Lola and Twink will be happy to know that I’m moving forward with the sequel, and writing it in the third person, with a planned publication date of Halloween, October 31, 2014. That’s five years to the day since the first book in the series–hopefully Book 3 won’t take that long to get out there (life got a little nuts between then and now).

Book 1–as is–will be the only one written in Lola’s voice. It was Lola Garnett’s diary, written while trying to figure out, with the help of a pissed off faery sidekick, how she woke up with powerful psychic abilities and how to use them to stop the crazy bitch across the street from destroying her life.

In the sequel, which is written in the third person, Lola has become more comfortable with her abilities and life has settled into a modicum of normalcy again. She starts taking classes at the local New Age book shops and learns to journey “across the veil” into the other realms.

Hijinks, of course, ensue when she becomes entangled with an extremely attractive mystery man, on the other side, and Twink, who is finally allowed to come home after paying her penance by helping Lola, can’t seem to find her way there. Lola is once again challenged to solve life’s puzzles and challenges, while working with powers she doesn’t understand. (More details to come.)

If you haven’t yet read Be Careful What You Witch For!, it’s only $2.99 at the Kindle Store. If you’re already a fan, you might want to subscribe to my blog so you’ll receive updates and notifications about Book 2.

See ya then!

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WITCH FOR! Meet Lola Garnett, a bored housewife, mom and office drone who develops strange psychic abilities overnight with no instruction manual, and Twink, the reluctant, sarcastic fairy assigned to assist and educate her. In this first book in the series, middle-aged Lola Garnett has resigned herself to an unsatisfying life of servitude as a wife, mother and office drone. The American dream she’s living feels more like a coma, and she secretly longs for a more meaningful life. In a perfect demonstration of “be careful what you wish for” she gets her wish when she wakes up from a nap one day with extrasensory abilities and powers. What she doesn’t know is that her condition is the result of a botched spell coming from across the street, where her wanna-be-witch neighbor, Melinda Underwood, is foolishly playing with powers she doesn’t understand. Lola’s untrained intuition tells her that Melinda intends to use her equal, yet opposite, powers for evil against innocent people. With the help of a tiny, sarcastic, ethereal sidekick, Lola overcomes her helpless resignation to overthrow Melinda’s evil plot and in the meantime, finds her own self worth.

What a fun book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and found that I did not want to put it down. I loved the charactors and the story in general. Many times throughout the book I felt like I could be Lola! I will be anxious to see the next book in the series! Thanks for such an enjoyable read. I passed it on to a friend who is another ‘aspiring witch’! 🙂

Lisa Bonnice is a master at creating interesting, quirky characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish and could not put it down. I found it to be witty, amusing, intelligent, and edgy. I especially loved it because unlike many books that deal with metaphysical subjects, it has a sense of playful irreverence. The protaganist is a “mainstream” person who is a complete novice when it comes to psychic phenomenon, which makes the story refreshing,fun, and lighthearted. I can’t wait until the next book in the series is completed. I’ll be the first in line to buy it.

This book was both fun and thought-provoking….a page-turner that leaves you wanting more (and looking forward to the next installment!) It works on many levels, first as the story of Lola, an ordinary woman who is coming to grips with her own strengths and weaknesses, beliefs and self-doubts, while coping with the day-to-day issues of marriage, family and work. It is also a unique fantasy/fable that takes you along on a journey with Lola as she learns to cope, with the help of her own higher self and her reluctant fairy side-kick, Tink, with her burgeoning new paranormal gifts and the unexpected, confusing, and often hilarious side-effects that they have on her life.

I love this book. Lisa Bonnice has managed to address the fears of anyone who is exploring their own abilities for the first time and give us the ability to laugh at ourselves and then step back and look a little deeper into our own souls. Written with humor and depth. This is a must read for anyone who is looking for that great “bathtub book” or a good reason to curl up with a warm blanket and a hot cup of coffee. You will find yourself laughing not only at Lola but also at yourself as Lola bumbles through as many of us really have done in exploring our own paths. While the book has some moments of comedic genuis but when you finish the book and find yourself missing the characters, you will also find that there were some wonderful life lessons along the way.

5.0 out of 5 starsLove It!This is one of those stories that entertains while making you step back and think. Lola is every woman who has ever found herself in a place of not knowing who she is or why she is here.Lola’s journey into self discovery and spirituality, left me with the desire to really step back and take a look at myself while being excited to find out what they next part of the journey will be.The story is told with both humor, compassion and wisdom.I certainly hope there will be more adventures with Lola and Twink.

I’ve reached a point in planning this trip where I am ready to take the next step: looking for sponsors. I’ve done a lot of research into “who” and “why”, and I have a pretty good list of the kinds of companies to approach. What I need from the experts is advice and/or assistance in “how”.

What I’ll be pitching:

WHO: I am a best-selling author of four books and part of my planned “Bucket List” trip to the UK is to do research for two (or more) upcoming books. My husband Jeff and I are both former standup comedians, and we make great traveling companions and story tellers. You can read one of our month-long adventures beginning with this blog.

Tintagel Castle (Photo credit: Bob Linsdell)

WHAT: We’re planning a summer-long trip to the UK in 2014. We will be exploring Arthurian legend sites, tracking Doctor Who shooting locations, visiting ancestral sites (we both have extensive and interesting ancestor stories from all over the UK), interviewing the occasional celebrity that we’ve seen on BBC America (we’ve already successfully started booking interviews), taking gorgeous nature walks, blogging and writing restaurant reviews. The pinnacle of the trip, for me, will be to face my intense fear of heights and take a photo of the sunset over the Irish Sea from the top of the Blackpool Tower.

Blackpool Tower (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WHERE: England, Wales, Scotland and possibly Ireland.

WHEN: We’re shooting for next summer, from the start of June until the end of August. We’ve been invited to a Druid Solstice ritual shortly after we arrive, and we’ll spend June in southern England and Wales, exploring Camelot and Avalon, and Jeff’s ancestry and Doctor Who locations.

In July, we’ll spend time in Liverpool, because we’re Beatles fans, then head to Janet’s Foss, a waterfall in central England where the Queen of the Faeries is supposed to have lived. Along the way, we’ll be taking long nature walks to see the beauty that is the United Kingdom. Then we’ll head up to Scotland for a visit, to find where my ancestors ranged from dirt-poor coalminers to ancient royalty.

Janet’s Foss (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In August, we’ll still be in Scotland and possibly Ireland, but then we’ll come back south in time to spend a week in Blackpool during their annual Illuminations celebration. We’ll be tracking down shooting locations for the incredible BBC miniseries, Blackpool (starring David Tennant, Sarah Parish and David Morrissey). We’ll wrap up the trip in London and head home.

WHY: Why not? Life is short and the world is waiting.

Regarding sponsors, I have a list of several companies to approach. I’ve already started to build a platform. I have very good reasons why each of these companies may be interested in trading goods/cash in exchange for shameless pluggery. We’re going anyway. They may as well come along for the ride.

So … now what? How do I make this happen? What kind of presentation should I create? How do I pitch this? Do you want to sponsor us? Do you want to help us find sponsors in exchange for sponsorship? Your expertise is requested and appreciated. Fill in the form below, or email me at lisa @ lisabonnice.com. Meantime, I will continue to plug away with research.